Moons, Where is Your Strength
by Nathan Lambes
Summary: a one-shot fic based on the fan characters Leos and Jaycera Delasari from Silver Skies. This is the defining moment of their past.


Leos could feel his father's breath hot on the back of his neck. It smelled stale and thick, like spoiled milk. His arms ran over his shoulders and across his heaving chest, pulling his frightened child closer to his own body as if trying to pass his own strength on to his son. But he was still scared. And he had a right to be.  
  
He and his crew had been lined up on the deck of his small merchant vessel while the pirates transferred their cargo onto their own ship. Halden had always insisted that his crew would travel unarmed, after all "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword." Now he wondered if were going to have to eat those words.  
  
Leos looked over at his sister, whose face was pressed against the legs of his stiff mother. She was rigid and emotionless, her hand planted on the sobbing child in front of her. Selrea stared vacantly forward, running her fingers through Jaycera's soft curly hair. In her mind, there was little hope for them.  
  
Leos watched the pirate's work, an anger rising to match the fear welling in his heart. Then a crack sounded, the scent of gunpowder filled his nostrils, and the soft thud of a body hitting the wooden deck drove the fear right back up to the front. Some of the lined up men began to sob softly to themselves while others stood quiet and accepted their fate. None thought to fight.  
  
Shot by shot they began to fall, the fear swallowing Leos whole. He watched as their bodies crumpled under their own weight, adding their blood to a steadily growing stream that crept slowly toward the boots of the teenager. With each shot the laughter of the buccaneers grew, gathering into a storm that overtook him. He was going to die here. He could do little but stare down and watch the red river.  
  
Finally he saw a pair of boots step in front of him, his father's grip tightening around his torso. He didn't look up. He couldn't look up. He heard the click of a cocked hammer, and one last chuckle. Then the shot. It rang in his ears for what felt like an eternity. Then he felt something wet and hot hit the back of his head. Blood. Then his father's arms loosened. He heard his mother scream before the body fell lifeless to the ground. She didn't scream for long. One last shot rang out, leaving only the wails of a confused ten year old girl.  
  
Finally he looked up, meeting the bearded face of his parent's murderer. Beneath his wide brimmed hat burned blue eyes, which were searching his own, seemingly looking for something. Finally he clicked his tongue and turned away.  
  
"Put them in the lifeboat and set them adrift." He said gruffly, signaling to his crew, "I don't kill children."  
  
Then from behind him two meaty, gloved hands grabbed his shoulders and pushed him into one of the ship's small lifeboats, his sobbing sister landing on his lap, curling into a fetal position. Leos stared numbly wide- eyed at the grinning sailor who waved goodbye with his fingers then kicked the dinghy into open sky. He watched as the mated ships became small dots in the distance, then faded into the mists of Mid-Ocean.  
  
Absentmindedly he began to run his fingers through his sister's thick curly hair, his brown eyes distant and unfocused. His lap was wet with her tears, her small arms clinging tightly around his waist. Through her sobs he heard her repeating, "They took it... they took it..."  
  
Finally he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight until she fell into a fitful sleep, he tears drying, sticking to his shirt. He held her and waited. Waited for the small amount of power to give out and drop them into deep sky where they could meet their parents.  
  
"Where is your strength now..." he whispered bitterly to the moons above.  
  
Author's Note: Alright, just to make things clear, this is a one-shot fiction. I had to write it for an exercise in my Creative writing class, so I figured I'd share it with all you fine people. If this is your first time meeting Jaycera and Leos Delasari, the rest of their story can be found in my first fanfic, Silver Skies. 


End file.
